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Last week I met with our Director for YoungLives (a part of YoungLife Youth Ministry that works specifically with Teen Moms), I have been involved with this for about 3 months now so I am definitely a newbie…. She was just checking in with me to see how it was going with the young teen mom I have been mentoring. I think it is both up and down but that is really how it is with teens anyway so it wasn’t a bad observation really. We are slowly getting to know each other and my thing is to just let her know I am there for her and I am a constant in her life. Someone who will listen and just be there.

As we were talking I realized how little we all know about the young girls we minister to, our goal is to really share God’s love for them and their babies and hopefully lead them to making the decision of accepting Christ as their savior. We invite them with no questions really, we don’t pry or judge, we just want them to come and get involved.  Many of the girls go to the same school which is good since they already know one another.  It is wonderful when a young woman is drawn to one of the volunteers and they make a connection.  That is the goal of mentoring as well, to make a connection and have a relationship that doesn’t require anything from the teen but being real and being who they are.  We try and provide a very safe environment for them so they want to come back and they want to get to know the other gals.  It is sad really that so many young women in our valley don’t have a family unit they can rely on. There isn’t the stability or model of a family for them to look at and model themselves. In some cases the women who volunteer in our group are the only real examples they have.

Some of the girls have more than one child, they are so young themselves and raising children is such a huge responsibility.  What I have seen so far is these girls love their babies and are trying their best to be good moms and do what they need to do to provide a good and stable home for them.  It’s hard to not swoop in and try to “fix” their lives, I know that is not our job but our job is to show them by example how God works in our own lives.  It is really awesome to watch some of the leaders that have been involved for quite a while interact with these girls, they are like lionesses, loving and protective!

It’s funny really when you volunteer to be a part of a ministry hoping to help and make a difference and you end up being the one impacted by the people you are trying to minister to. I find myself looking forward to club and the message as the gal that shares at each Club is just an incredible women of God and I just enjoy getting to know her better! It also gives me another opportunity to spend time with and share with my teen mom and I like that as well, she gave her heart to the Lord a while ago and has been opening up to me more and more and I feel so privileged to be part of her life. It has been a 2 steps forward, 1 step back kind of process getting to know her so if you are reading this….pray for us!

Being a Stay at Home Mom opened up this opportunity to me and I am very thankful for that! My little one gets to play with the kids and I get to have fun as well, a win win situation all around!

We have Campaigner’s today which is a more intimate discussion group, hopefully my little gal will remember!! (the last club we had, I went to pick her up and she had forgot , that would be the 1 step back!!! )

Have a blessed day!
Grace

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